I have 2H/4H/4L, where is 4A?

[Bannerman]

My understanding is that both are AWD and send power in 4A to all 4 wheels, varying the power % front to back as needed via electronically controlled clutch packs in the center diff/t case, but always some power to all wheels. As far as I know, the difference between a regular lariat and a tremor with hi-lock is the ability to also mechanically lock when going into 4Hi vs a regular lariat being an electronically locked 50/50 torque split that technically could overcome the mechanical ability of the clutches to hold and thus slip if you’re in a serious high torque situation

This is the difference as I understand it as well, the 402A Tremor guys are reporting a 0.2 GPM average loss in 4A vs 2H. I do not yet have my truck so I can't confirm.

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[UGADawg96]

$10,000 is not correct. A 500A that has all your 302A has is only $2800 more. For that $2800 you could have had your 4A, led tails, full digital cluster, leather, cooled seats, and ambient lighting. Well worth the upgrade. Could get it $900 cheaper if you remove the console. Not too late to place another order and get what you wanted.

I didn't want the full digital cluster, leather, cooled seats, and ambient lighting. Nor the sliding rear window. And Nor the FX4 package. And that is why I stuck with the XLT. So 4A wasn't worth $2800 to me. ymmv.

 

[PeteRit]

You only need a mid level lariat to get 4a. Which is about 6k more than a 302a.

I've 100% seen higher MSRP prices on very optioned out 302a's compared to my 501a Powerboost Larait. My 501a sticker was at $63,005. Yeah I don't have a sunroof or adaptive cruise but I do have 4a, ambient lighting, ventilated seats, folding mirrors, homelink, 12" digital gauge cluster and importantly a freaking cupholder in the back seats. Like how the hell do they not give the XLT a cupholder/arm rest back there? That's where I draw the line lol.

 

[DT444T]

Dang... I was wanting a Lariat, but had to draw the line somewhere. In Florida it rains a lot. I used to run 4H in my Ranger when it rained, and didn't really bind anything up (would turn it off in a parking lot, etc. and only run in rain). But I also went thru tires every 30k miles. I suspect this had a lot to do with it

I'm sorry, WHAT? Why are you running 4wd in the rain? I lived in Florida for 7 years and drive a car with 400hp and 285 wide rear tires. There's no issue with handling that being in 4wd will fix.

Why??

 

[Arcteryx]

Dang... I was wanting a Lariat, but had to draw the line somewhere. In Florida it rains a lot. I used to run 4H in my Ranger when it rained, and didn't really bind anything up (would turn it off in a parking lot, etc. and only run in rain). But I also went thru tires every 30k miles. I suspect this had a lot to do with it

Damn dude. I live in wisconsin and don't even use 4H unless the snow is over 3 inches. Put some weight in the bed. A few sand bags do the trick.

 

[Blueshound]

I've 100% seen higher MSRP prices on very optioned out 302a's compared to my 501a Powerboost Larait. My 501a sticker was at $63,005. Yeah I don't have a sunroof or adaptive cruise but I do have 4a, ambient lighting, ventilated seats, folding mirrors, homelink, 12" digital gauge cluster and importantly a freaking cupholder in the back seats. Like how the hell do they not give the XLT a cupholder/arm rest back there? That's where I draw the line lol.

Personally I wanted a sunroof and adaptive cruise more than all those other things put together. 4A and folding mirrors would be "nice" but I dislike leather seats and the digital cluster. That's the great thing, so many choices everyone can get what they want. Btw msrp was $59,680 for my loaded XLT (paid $53,000 a year ago).

 

[ws6transam]

I dont know guys; I just finished about 600 miles of winter driving on ice and snow, and even without the 4A, this new XLT 4X4 is the bomb on ice and snow. Slip it into "slippery" mode and go for it. Dial in the heavy snow/deep sand mode and the truck locks it's diffs, turns off the nannies and drops down a few gears for maximum roost. I do not think I am going to miss having 4A. Slippery mode / 4WD does what I want, when I want. Then when the road gets flat and dry, I toss it back to 2WD with a flick of a knob. I rather like this setup the way it is. Am I missing something?

 

[JBinFla]

I've 100% seen higher MSRP prices on very optioned out 302a's compared to my 501a Powerboost Larait. My 501a sticker was at $63,005. Yeah I don't have a sunroof or adaptive cruise but I do have 4a, ambient lighting, ventilated seats, folding mirrors, homelink, 12" digital gauge cluster and importantly a freaking cupholder in the back seats. Like how the hell do they not give the XLT a cupholder/arm rest back there? That's where I draw the line lol.

At the end of the year the only place in town with stock was Brandon Ford. Their trucks were all "highly optioned" so there wasn't a $63k Lariat on the lot. Their cheapest 4x4 Crew Cab was $72k I believe. Fully optioned was just about everything. We would all love to have the "next higher model" but sometimes it doesn't work out. Mine was sticker at $61k, so another $10-11k is a big hike for me.

And let's be honest, I'd rather have a Limited F250 Diesel 4x4 fully optioned. I could afford it. But I don't want to afford it. I'll be fine with this truck.

 

[thomps33]

Damn dude. I live in wisconsin and don't even use 4H unless the snow is over 3 inches. Put some weight in the bed. A few sand bags do the trick.

Right, I've lived in Northern Minnesota and Alaska my entire life and rarely need 4H.

 

[blkZ28spt]

I'm sorry, WHAT? Why are you running 4wd in the rain? I lived in Florida for 7 years and drive a car with 400hp and 285 wide rear tires. There's no issue with handling that being in 4wd will fix.

Why??

More traction, more control, more better.

4A is basically made for the rain.

 

[Pedaldude]

I'm sorry, WHAT? Why are you running 4wd in the rain? I lived in Florida for 7 years and drive a car with 400hp and 285 wide rear tires. There's no issue with handling that being in 4wd will fix.

Why??

Damn dude. I live in wisconsin and don't even use 4H unless the snow is over 3 inches. Put some weight in the bed. A few sand bags do the trick.

Right, I've lived in Northern Minnesota and Alaska my entire life and rarely need 4H.

I was waiting for the traction gatekeepers to come out and question why anyone would want the most advanced transfer case available for the F-150, rather than the part-time transfer case; which other than the lack of a proper shift linkage is 1930's technology. The Ford ESOF is a step backwards from the physical linkage, it takes longer to engage 4X4 and sometimes won't even engage at all. I wouldn't miss the 4A as much if I had a lever that I could shift as quickly as on my first truck, where I could shift into 4H from 2H in .2-.5 seconds. The ESOF is inconsistent, taking anywhere up to 3 seconds to engage and sometimes requiring a second attempt to shift to 4H.

While driving within your abilities and traction limits is good practice, sometimes outside variables pop up when control inputs for brakes and steering just aren't enough, where you need to power out of the problem and power to all four wheels is the only solution remaining.

I have had trucks and SUVs with every conventional drive configuration possible and I would have to be delusional to believe that full time automatic 4X4 wasn't superior in providing traction and drivability to the other options available.

4A operates in RWD in all situations other than when rear wheel slip is detected. So drivability in the dry isn't hurt like with some center differential AWD systems where sometimes parking is met with lots of tire scrub or when going slowly in deep snow and you get understeer in turns when full-time 4X4 is on. It also really is best at dealing with those sudden traction loss situations like oily intersections or early morning ice where all the road is dry other than a small section in the shade where the frozen dew remains. Even if you only need 4A once, it's cheaper than replacing a fender and bent rim!

The 4A Borg Warner torque on demand TC is a decades old, proven system with the added cost over the part-time TC being nominal. Nothing is lost by switching to the 4A TC, it's as much of an anachronism offering the part-time TC on lower trims and packages as if Ford were still shipping carburetors on XL and XLT trucks.

 

[Arcteryx]

I was waiting for the traction gatekeepers to come out and question why anyone would want the most advanced transfer case available for the F-150, rather than the part-time transfer case; which other than the lack of a proper shift linkage is 1930's technology. The Ford ESOF is a step backwards from the physical linkage, it takes longer to engage 4X4 and sometimes won't even engage at all. I wouldn't miss the 4A as much if I had a lever that I could shift as quickly as on my first truck, where I could shift into 4H from 2H in .2-.5 seconds. The ESOF is inconsistent, taking anywhere up to 3 seconds to engage and sometimes requiring a second attempt to shift to 4H.

While driving within your abilities and traction limits is good practice, sometimes outside variables pop up when control inputs for brakes and steering just aren't enough, where you need to power out of the problem and power to all four wheels is the only solution remaining.

I have had trucks and SUVs with every conventional drive configuration possible and I would have to be delusional to believe that full time automatic 4X4 wasn't superior in providing traction and drivability to the other options available.

4A operates in RWD in all situations other than when rear wheel slip is detected. So drivability in the dry isn't hurt like with some center differential AWD systems where sometimes parking is met with lots of tire scrub or when going slowly in deep snow and you get understeer in turns when full-time 4X4 is on. It also really is best at dealing with those sudden traction loss situations like oily intersections or early morning ice where all the road is dry other than a small section in the shade where the frozen dew remains. Even if you only need 4A once, it's cheaper than replacing a fender and bent rim!

The 4A Borg Warner torque on demand TC is a decades old, proven system with the added cost over the part-time TC being nominal. Nothing is lost by switching to the 4A TC, it's as much of an anachronism offering the part-time TC on lower trims and packages as if Ford were still shipping carburetors on XL and XLT trucks.

Wow. Thats quite the response for a light hearted comment when I wasn't bashing they guy.

At least you got your chance to give your technical expertise

 

[DT444T]

I was waiting for the traction gatekeepers to come out and question why anyone would want the most advanced transfer case available for the F-150, rather than the part-time transfer case; which other than the lack of a proper shift linkage is 1930's technology. The Ford ESOF is a step backwards from the physical linkage, it takes longer to engage 4X4 and sometimes won't even engage at all. I wouldn't miss the 4A as much if I had a lever that I could shift as quickly as on my first truck, where I could shift into 4H from 2H in .2-.5 seconds. The ESOF is inconsistent, taking anywhere up to 3 seconds to engage and sometimes requiring a second attempt to shift to 4H.

While driving within your abilities and traction limits is good practice, sometimes outside variables pop up when control inputs for brakes and steering just aren't enough, where you need to power out of the problem and power to all four wheels is the only solution remaining.

I have had trucks and SUVs with every conventional drive configuration possible and I would have to be delusional to believe that full time automatic 4X4 wasn't superior in providing traction and drivability to the other options available.

4A operates in RWD in all situations other than when rear wheel slip is detected. So drivability in the dry isn't hurt like with some center differential AWD systems where sometimes parking is met with lots of tire scrub or when going slowly in deep snow and you get understeer in turns when full-time 4X4 is on. It also really is best at dealing with those sudden traction loss situations like oily intersections or early morning ice where all the road is dry other than a small section in the shade where the frozen dew remains. Even if you only need 4A once, it's cheaper than replacing a fender and bent rim!

The 4A Borg Warner torque on demand TC is a decades old, proven system with the added cost over the part-time TC being nominal. Nothing is lost by switching to the 4A TC, it's as much of an anachronism offering the part-time TC on lower trims and packages as if Ford were still shipping carburetors on XL and XLT trucks.

I didn't ask why they wouldn't want the more advanced TC. I asked why drive in 4H in the rain.

 

[PeteRit]

I was waiting for the traction gatekeepers to come out and question why anyone would want the most advanced transfer case available for the F-150, rather than the part-time transfer case; which other than the lack of a proper shift linkage is 1930's technology. The Ford ESOF is a step backwards from the physical linkage, it takes longer to engage 4X4 and sometimes won't even engage at all. I wouldn't miss the 4A as much if I had a lever that I could shift as quickly as on my first truck, where I could shift into 4H from 2H in .2-.5 seconds. The ESOF is inconsistent, taking anywhere up to 3 seconds to engage and sometimes requiring a second attempt to shift to 4H.

While driving within your abilities and traction limits is good practice, sometimes outside variables pop up when control inputs for brakes and steering just aren't enough, where you need to power out of the problem and power to all four wheels is the only solution remaining.

I have had trucks and SUVs with every conventional drive configuration possible and I would have to be delusional to believe that full time automatic 4X4 wasn't superior in providing traction and drivability to the other options available.

4A operates in RWD in all situations other than when rear wheel slip is detected. So drivability in the dry isn't hurt like with some center differential AWD systems where sometimes parking is met with lots of tire scrub or when going slowly in deep snow and you get understeer in turns when full-time 4X4 is on. It also really is best at dealing with those sudden traction loss situations like oily intersections or early morning ice where all the road is dry other than a small section in the shade where the frozen dew remains. Even if you only need 4A once, it's cheaper than replacing a fender and bent rim!

The 4A Borg Warner torque on demand TC is a decades old, proven system with the added cost over the part-time TC being nominal. Nothing is lost by switching to the 4A TC, it's as much of an anachronism offering the part-time TC on lower trims and packages as if Ford were still shipping carburetors on XL and XLT trucks.

You are so wrong. Do some research on the Borg Warner TOD transfer case works. In the 2012-2014 yes it worked that way. There's two types of TOD transfer cases for the f150 now. One that has a mechanical lock function (Raptor only) and one that is only clutch packs which can still be overcome of course and slip. Here's a really good article on how it is different now and it explains the raptor case as well.

https://www.sae.org/news/2020/03/ford-raptor-unique-front-driveline

 

[Blueshound]

Pedaldude, I mean, you're right. Having the option for 4A would be great on lower trims. It's a great feature. But it's not the end of the world not to have it. In fact most of us F150 owners don't, including the millions with (gasp!) 2WD. And we're not all getting stuck or sliding off the road willy nilly.
Still, I hope Ford listens to you and makes it standard on all 4x4!

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